Agriculture has used mulch since the beginning of time to enhance the growth of plants and minimize the growth of weeds. Mulch has taken the form of leaves, grass clippings, chips, and all kinds of biodegradable plant matter. The object is to cover the soil around the stem of the growing plant and over the roods to screen sunlight from the adjacent soil and minimize the growth of weeds. If there is no sunlight, the weeds will not grow. The mulch will also allow water from irrigation or rain to percolate through to the soil beneath the mulch. The overyling mulch layer will inherently slow the evaporation of water from the soil, and in theory will hold more water near the roots of the plant to increase its growth.
In this century, various modifications of the age old use of biodegradable vegetable matter as a mulch have been tried by various entities who tried to enhance the growth characteristics of plants with varying success. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,190,890 and 2,222,225 describe the use of flurescent dyes as a mulch. Plastic sheets of black, grey and white consistency are used to screen out sunlight, and their function is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,252,250 and 3,955,319. A white powder mulch is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,147. U.S. Pat. No. 3,099,897 describes using flake mica as mulch; aluminum foil is used and described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,740,233; and a mixture of aluminum flakes in an asphalt binder is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,382,610.
All of these described products have some beneficial effect under certain circumstances. The trouble is that the circumstances are not universally applicable to all growing plants nor all climates where those plants may be grown. For the most part, the disclosures of all of the above-cited inventions overstate their benefits and do not state their limitations at all. What is needed is a reusable mulch which will enhance the growth of plants, minimize the evaporation of water, minimize the growth of weeds and state with specificity for what plants the specific mulch will be best suited.